The Sims Medieval Core Concepts

Understanding Gameplay Features and Mechanics

by Tom "Metro" Schlueter

If you're already familiar with Sims 3, then you know that concepts like Lifetime Happiness Points, Moodlets, and Wishes are all integral aspects to that game. The Sims Medieval has many of its own unique core concepts and understanding and mastering those concepts will be your ticket to "go Medieval" on your Sims and achieving those nice shiny medals. So, here are the most important key concepts to learn in Sims Medieval:

The Watcher
Who's the Watcher? That would be you, the player -at least according to Patrick Stewart who narrates the opening cinematic. And I don't know about you, but when Captain Picard speaks, I say "Yes, Sir." End of story.

The Watcher takes on the role of providing the spark at the outset of your Kingdom. There are obvious religious/spiritual overtones here as one can see from the opening cinematic. The Watcher is a godlike entity (Score!) with your past followers erecting a huge monument on your behalf - not unlike what my neighbors put up in my own front yard.

But, as the Watcher, in which direction will you gently push your Kingdom? How do you give your Sims guidance? Which path shall you take? The answer is you must first choose your Kingdom's...

Ambitions
When you begin a new Kingdom, you'll first need to select a Kingdom Ambition. There are 12 to choose from. If you're firing the game up for the first time, then you have no choice but to start with the New Beginnings Ambition because only by completing it will you unlock more Ambitions.

Each Ambition carries with it a set amount of available...

Quest Points (QP)
New Beginnings gives you 50 QP, but some other Ambitions provide more. When you run out of QP, then your Kingdom Ambition is finished and your overall performance for a medal is determined.

After choosing an Ambition you're then taken to...

Kingdom Mode
This screen is a birdseye view of all structures in your Kingdom. You begin an Ambition with only a few buildings (the castle/Throne Room and a couple others). To add new structures to your Kingdom while in Kingdom Mode, you will need...

Resource Points (RP)
Every building costs RP, and the cost goes up 10 RP with every building placed. It can get pretty steep towards the end of an Ambition, so plan accordingly. You are awarded varying amounts of RP depending on how you medal in a Quest. RP can also be spent to make an alliance directly with...

Provinces
Yes, your Kingdom is not alone. There are 10 other Provinces/Territories and loyalty gained from these different Provinces all carry different benefits. If you have any desire to discover these 10 territories, then your Kingdom will need to achieve certain levels of...

Renown
Think of Renown as your Kingdom's reputation. And that reputation needs to be in the form of at least 60 or 160 Renown before you're offered a potential Annex...

Quest
Quests are the meat and potatoes of Sims Medieval. Think of Quests as a book and the individual Quest parts as chapters, or the storyline. You need to read chapter 1 before you can get to chapter 2. If you're familiar with Sims 3 World Adventures, then you already are attuned to the concept of adventure chains, and how doing X will lead you to the next step, Y. That's what Quests are-a chain of events that have various outcomes depending on the number of...

Heroes
Heroes are your playable characters that complete the many available Quests. They are the Watcher's hands that do the actual work. Medieval has a much different feel than Sims 3 where your Household is a revolving door and Sims can come and go at your whim. In Medieval, you ONLY play Heroes required for a Quest.

So, how do you acquire Heroes? It all goes back to Kingdom Mode when you place a new structure. Most structures have a Hero associated with that building (i.e. the Clinic and the Physician Hero). Place a specific building, then click on the building and you'll see the large square button..."Needs a New Hero."

Traits and Fatal Flaws
Picking traits for game characters is a basic RPG feature. You can choose 2 traits from a rather short list for your Medieval Heroes. But, in a new twist a player is also forced to deal with one Fatal Flaw. Fatal Flaws can be eliminated by undertaking a Quest granting a Legendary Trait. But, before you immediately jump to the conclusion that all Fatal Flaws must be eliminated, consider that they all provide your Heroes with unique game play options.

How do Heroes earn Simoles? Each Hero is synonymous with a....

Profession
There are 10 levels to each profession. Heroes hit new levels in their profession when they pass set Experience requirements. Profession pay is received M-F at noon.

Daily Responsibilities
Heroes are presented with 2 Daily Responsibilities at 9 AM and have varying amounts of time to complete these responsibilities. It's important not to ignore or forget about these because doing so will shoulder your Hero with a -20 Shirked Responsibility negative...

Buff
Sims have Moodlets in Sims 3 and in Sims Medieval, EA decided to use a common RPG term and call them Buffs. The many positive and negative Buffs in the game have direct impact on your Sim's...

Focus
Focus is a major component in Sims Medieval and has a big impact on Quest success. Focus is the equivalent of Mood in Sims 3 and when it's capped good things happen, mainly, your medal meter to determine Quest performance is fed more rapidly. On the flipside, when Focus hits the chamber pot, bad things happen.

So, as a Watcher, you want more than monuments erected for you, right? You want a trophy room to show off those shiny...

Medals
Four Medals are possible for any given Quest: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and the coveted Platinum. The higher value medal earned, the more loot you receive at the end of a Quest - a combination of Simoles, Experience, RP, and varying payouts of the 4 Kingdom...

Aspects
Your Kingdom "scorecard" examines 4 areas, or Aspects: Well-Being, Security, Culture, and Knowledge. Each Aspect has 12 slots that can be filled. You can see how your Kingdom is doing in these areas by clicking the little gold arrow inside to the bottom right of the box with your Renown, RP, and Monarch on the Kingdom screen.

In addition to Quest Medals, don't forget about the overall Kingdom Ambition performance-what type of Medal you receive at the end of an Ambition will determine if other Ambitions are then unlocked to be played.

Finally, you can also fill your special Watcher's trophy room with many...

Achievements
There are more than 100 in-game rewards for you to earn from little things like..."Completely heal a Sim on the operating table" (worth 5 points) to the very difficult "Gain 1,000,000 Simoles" (worth 20 points). The nice thing about Achievements is that progress is tracked across all Kingdoms you start.